Sea of Plastic Debris (Rory Baker, English 101, Garrett, 12-02-2015)

Sea of Plastic Debris

I participated in the Heal the Bay beach clean up and used the trash I picked up to create an art project about plastic pollution. I painted a view from the ocean looking at a city, as if the audience is on a boat look back at land, and I incorporated blue or green trash that I found and glued it to the ocean. I then glued sand on the shore, and cigarettes as a cityscape in the background. Most of the trash in the piece's ocean is plastic as a representation of the amount of plastic trash floating around in our oceans.

When people see my piece, I want them to reflect on the amount that they litter. The beach is a place full of nature that should not be filled with dirty and toxic items. If people don't stop littering, marine pollution will only get worse, especially with rising populations. I don't want the audience to feel guilty by looking at my piece, but I want them to feel the need to improve. I want my artwork to be a message to the audience pleading them to stop polluting our oceans. No matter who sees this, there is time to change and help our environment.

Plastic pollution in the ocean is a huge problem. It hurts so many animals in the ocean--animals of all kinds. Many birds and marine animals mistake colorful pieces for food and end up with plastic poisoning. It does not matter how much the audience cares about the ocean and its inhabitants (although they really should), they should know how it affects them too. When humans consume the sea animals that have already consumed plastic, the person is consuming that plastic as well. Plastic is non-biodegradable, which means that it is impossible to naturally break down. That means it will not disappear if a human eats it, it will stay within them and could have severe effects.

My art project is a reminder to those who see it not to litter. Whether or not they are near the beach, littering is a problem. It always ends up back in the nearest body of water, which leads into other waterways and eventually all over the world. Plastic pollution (and pollution in general) is a huge problem, and I want my art project to spark change within those who see it to stop littering and take action to stop any more plastic from entering the ocean.

Heal the Bay Art Project Written Component - Alexis Kam

Alexis Kam

Professor Garrett

ENGL 101

December 2, 2015

A Polluting Earth

          Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States, but most people don’t know that. Smoking causes various cancers and chronic lung diseases like emphysema and bronchitis, heart disease, and pregnancy-related issues (Tobacco Facts). On October 18, 2015, I went with a group of students from my English 101 class to pick up trash at a Heal the Bay cleanup event on Dockweiler beach. When we picked up a total of 992 cigarette butts on a public beach, I was shocked to realize how many cigarettes we found even though smoking is prohibited on state beaches. Within the next few weeks, I collected a bunch of used cigarettes off of the ground that I found on campus right next to one of the buildings even though it is prohibited to smoke within 25 feet of a building (University Smoking Policy). 

  I glued used cigarette butts to a piece of paper in the form of a tree trunk and then drew smoke to replace the branches on a tree. My art symbolizes how cigarettes emit pollutants that fill the earth with toxins. Trees “remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere [to] store it as wood fiber” and then they convert that carbon dioxide into oxygen which is released back into the atmosphere and breathed in by humans (Oxygen Generation). I also chose to have my art resemble a tree because cigarettes generate toxic smoke which is then inhaled by humans, just like how we breathe in the oxygen created by plants.
Through this project, I want to help students become aware of tobacco and why it is harmful.  Most students don’t know the effects of smoking on their health and don’t know that it affects the other students around them and the environment. Smoking emits numerous hazardous pollutants like nicotine, which is very sticky and will be absorbed by clothes and then later released with the effects of tobacco still present. Not only does smoking affect the smoker’s health, it also affect the environment by “resulting into air, water and land pollution” because many people litter cigarettes on the ground. In addition, one tree is wasted for every 300 cigarettes and the chemical waste from manufacturing cigarettes is dumped into the soil (How Smoking Affects the Environment). Students need to become aware of the severe effects of smoking that damages their own health, other’s health, and ultimately the earth. 

Works Cited

"How Smoking Affects the Environment." Ygoy. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.

"Tobacco Facts and Figures." Be Tobacco Free. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.

"University Smoking Policy." (2007): Administrative Law & Procedure. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

"Oxygen Generation by Planting a Tree or Having a Tree Planted." Million Forestry Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.

                                       
           I completed the community engagement art project with trash I collected from my house over the past few weeks. I decided to focus on the issue of homelessness in Los Angeles and America. Statistically, roughly two-thirds of Americans live paycheck to paycheck (Gamm 2014). For some of these people, if an unfortunate turn of events takes place, for instance loosing their job, they may end up on the street, homeless. They may be unable to purchase essentials such as food for themselves and could begin to go hungry. To represent this dire situation, I created an art piece featuring a homeless woman made entirely out of different materials that were once a product filled with food but have since been emptied. In the piece, she is part of a homeless community using tents and clothes lines. This reality is on display for the public to see 24/7 on the sides of some Los Angeles streets or at on-ramps to freeways. Although my representation may seem extreme, this is the nature of their situation and must not be a topic that is avoided by those who can help.
     The intention of my art piece is to raise awareness about the frequency and severity of homelessness, particularly in Los Angeles. When constructing the homeless woman, I began by creating a structured and clean dress and then cut it until it looked sufficiently tattered. I wanted my piece to illustrate the fleeting nature of stability, as this woman, dressed in attire that could be a party dress, is now on the streets in what possibly was a quite sudden turn of events. The surrounding environment of the woman in my art piece was also intentional. I placed her on the side of the road in what appears to be a small community of people suffering through homelessness. I decided that this would be an effective way to portray my intentions, being that my concern addresses more than the lifestyle of homelessness and how it can become one’s reality in such a short period of time; my concerns are largely surrounding the severity and percentage of the population struggling through that potential situation. My goal was to demonstrate this through my art piece, as the featured character is a part of a homeless community mimicking the look of places like Skid Roe in Los Angeles. As pointed out in an article in “Marketplace” entitled “In Los Angeles, homeless camps are suddenly everywhere”. These places exist and are filled with people who have recently encountered a rough set of circumstances in their life. The article points out that the number of homeless in LA county rose 12% in the past two years with the population of homeless now reaching 44,000 (Tyler, 2015). Support from those who can provide it is what allows these people another chance at life by getting them back on their feet with a fighting chance.
    The intended audience for this piece was anyone who is able to help those in need. My goal was for the viewer to see my art and feel inspired to help this person all at once seemingly both similar and apart from themselves. There are so many different ways in which people can help support those who are suffering through homelessness. Organizations such as PATH, People Assisting The Homeless, house and feed homeless and work to get them back into jobs where they can support themselves. But even people who aren’t part of organizations can still help the homeless in whatever small ways they can. Whether one is giving a beggar money or food, donating clothing to a charity, or creating an art piece to inspire others, every act counts and impacts the life of someone in need.


Work Cited

Gamm, Scott. "Two-Thirds of Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck, A 1% Drop From Last Year." MainStreet. The Street Inc., 29 Sept. 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

Tyler, Jeff. "In Los Angeles, Homeless Camps Are Suddenly Everywhere." Marketplace Wealth and Poverty. 28 May 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.